TRENTON — A new $2 million robotic arm that has been installed at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton will allow doctors to perform heart surgeries that were not previously available in the region, officials said.

Hamilton Cardiology Associates announced this week that its interventional cardiologists will be able to use this technology for procedures that were only offered in Philadelphia and New York City.

“I’m thrilled we were able to acquire this new equipment that will now allow us to perform procedures we weren’t able to before,” said Jay Patel, interventional cardiologist at Hamilton Cardiology Associates and the department chair of cardiology at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton.

The arm is part of a new “hybrid” operating room that crosses a cardiac catheterization lab and a traditional OR, St. Francis said in a release. Catheterization labs are used for minimally invasive catheter procedures such as balloon angioplasties, while standard operating rooms are used for more invasive procedures such as open-heart surgery, the release said.